From ISRO to Met dept, WRD taps all sources to pool in data on waterbodies in Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu accounts for the highest number of lakes in the country with 13,629, while it has 43,837 tanks and 38,321 ponds.
CHENNAI: The State government will soon be armed with a single source of information on waterbodies across Tamil Nadu.
The Water Resource Department (WRD) has set up the Tamil Nadu Water Resources Information and Management System to make use of the available resources and modern technology to create a digital database (single source of information mechanism) to prepare the State water policy, which aims to achieve the status of "water stress-free State" and assure the right of sufficient quantity of water for all.
According to the Union Jal Shakthi Ministry's waterbody census, the State has a total of 1,06,957 waterbodies - ponds, tanks, lakes, and reservoirs. Tamil Nadu accounts for the highest number of lakes in the country with 13,629, while it has 43,837 tanks and 38,321 ponds.
"The new system will come in handy in monitoring the status of waterbodies and efficiently preventing encroachments. It will also help keep track of the pollution levels in waterbodies and groundwater and come up with intervention schemes," said a senior WRD official.
He noted that the Rs 30-crore project would capture real-time data on waterbodies and offer multiple indicators that would come in handy for various government agencies and departments in framing policies and proposals in the coming years.
Another official involved in the development of the database said more than 95 per cent of the building of the system was complete. “We have also commenced training of staff to run the system effectively. It is ready to come into force," said the senior official, hinting that they were awaiting approval from the top brass to bring the system on stream.
The system has been built by collecting and collating data from the Central Water Commission, Indian Meteorological Department, Indian Space Research Organisation, global data set, and State data to have dynamic modules such as rainfall, groundwater and pollution level, inflow forecasting, water audit, and deficit water indent.
Apart from this, the department has also developed satellite-based waterbody information, monitoring and protection systems. This would further enhance the digital database to keep the waterbodies free from encroachments. "It will focus on the waterbodies in Chennai region," added the official.
